All posts tagged ‘illness’

Rachel is currently battling a severe case of strep throat with a hearty dose of penicillin. Best diet ever! She is really looking forward to getting back to normal life, as well as the many hugs and kisses that she typically receives from her son.

DaksterSullivan is counting down the days till Mega Con in Orlando, Florida. She has completed her secret project and can’t wait to reveal it on the first day of the event. She’s especially exited for the chance to meet Gail Simone (Batgirl) and get one of her comic books autographed. If you plan on attending the convention, stay tuned to GeekMom for a special announcement regarding Dakster’s visit.

Nicole Wakelin is in Austin, Texas this weekend for South by Southwest where she plans to see a few films, learn about cool tech, and eat lots of tasty barbecue.

Chaos Mandy is working on her costume for Mad Monster Party. She had resigned herself to not wearing a costume when the perfect one came to her — American McGee’s Alice. Since there is only a few weeks until the convention, she’s having to scramble to get all the pieces on time.

A friend of mine recently faced a dilemma: Her six-year-old son needed to have his tonsils out, but the doctor recommended lying to the child about the surgery. Specifically, the doctor suggested saying that they would put a mask on for a “breathing treatment” because kids are anxious when they know the truth.

This struck me as wrong, and my friend was uncertain about what to do. Who to ask? The GeekMoms, of course!

Patricia Vollmer is direct with her kids:

I don’t lie to my kids about medical stuff. From shots to cavities to stitches to setting broken bones, my sons were told what was coming as truthfully as possible. I had it done to me — being told I had “nothing to worry about” — when it came to filling cavities and to this day I hate dentists for fear of their not being straightforward with me. I’d tell my kids the truth, no matter what, emphasizing the reason for the procedure and that, if necessary, anesthetics will help him sleep during the procedure.

Melissa Wiley added:

When our oldest daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at age two, we answered her questions honestly and simply. As she got older (treatment lasted nearly three years), she had more complex questions. “Will it hurt?” is usually a big one (with all my kids, for all medical procedures). If it will, I say so–not dramatically, just calmly, simply, honestly, with lots of encouragement, conveying my confidence in the doctors. Kids need to know they can trust their parents to to tell them the truth, no matter what. And when something’s being done to a child’s body, that honesty is all the more important.

Laura Grace Weldon had some thoughtful comments about children and trauma:

Oh my. Never lie. Give truth to children in doses they can understand. This is easy to determine by the questions they ask. We have the idea that what children can’t remember, because they’re too young or because of anesthesia, won’t hurt them. That’s entirely wrong. Trauma has to do with experiencing pain or fear while in a state of helplessness. Kinda like being hospitalized (even with the most attentive caregivers) especially in post-op. Trauma takes place in the body and affects the mind, but in ways that mind can’t heal with mind processes like logic. Preventing trauma is vital. I’d recommend she read any of the books on trauma by Peter Levine, perhaps starting with Trauma Through A Child’s Eyes.

Dakster complicates the issue by pointing out that sometimes it might be helpful to prevent a phobia related to an illness:

This one hits close to home for me. When my nephew (age 6) got bitten by a mosquito that lead to an almost deadly infection, they decided it would be best for him to not tell him how he got sick. He is now 7 and recovering and still doesn’t know the truth. The upside to this is that he doesn’t run and freak out every time a mosquito comes near him. Maybe when he is older they will tell him the truth, but for now, this was decided to be the best thing for his morale.

Amy Kraft chimed in:

I have a 6-year-old, and I’d tell her, but I’d do it with lots of reassurance and set up expectations of what was going to happen.

Chaos Mandy agreed:

I’d tell the truth, but I would be as reasurring as I could.

Sarah Pinault shared her own story:

When I was about 8 I had to have some teeth removed. I went to the school clinic – scary things in the 80s – the nurse told me that the gas would be on the outside of the mask. How was I to know any better? Anyway, they put the mask on my face and it was very obvious that the gas was inside the mask, I started to freak out and it took 6 people to hold me down, including my dad. I have never forgotten that lie, I didn’t go to the dentist again for almost a decade, I didn’t trust them again. It was just as bad an experience for my dad. Friends of ours have a three year old who had hip surgery just over a year ago. They recently found out that the surgery didn’t work, she has to have her legs broken and reset again in the hip socket. They have been 100% honest with her, they even made a photo book on Shutterfly with a story about what she went through last time and read it with her. The local library has a copy too; she delivered it to them.

Kris Bordessa had a great suggestion:

I’m with the folks who would tell the truth. Also, ask if your friend’s hospital has a child life specialist. They help work with kids (doing things like putting them in a red wagon and giving them playdough on the way to surgery) on their level to make the whole experience less traumatic.

Last year my husband took ill just before Thanksgiving. He was out of work for about 10 weeks with severe damage to his inner ear. It came on suddenly, knocked him on his back and kept him there. I had a 15-month-old, a full time job and it was the holiday season. Thanksgiving was the biggest problem as he took ill within a week of the big day. We adapted, our family and friends rallied round us and we made it through.

For Christmas, I decided to get a table top tree since we couldn’t go and chop one down. I thought it would be easier to handle by myself. The thought of it depressed me and seemed to represent the way we would spend Christmas; reduced, diminished and not quite as holly jolly as usual. So I made a decision. I was not going to let one setback, no matter how serious, affect anyone’s enjoyment of Christmas. I called my father-in-law and quick as a flash we had the biggest tree we could find; we had to chop the top off for it to fit in the house!

Every day I made a conscious effort to celebrate. I knitted in Christmas colors while watching Christmas movies, I lit the advent candle each night, I wore something festive everyday in December. It was magical, and after about a week it was no longer an effort, it just came naturally. Some years these are tactics that I have to employ anyway to kick the holiday season into gear. Last year it was survival and I used every method I could to get festive for my own sanity and for my 1-year-old son. I’m sure he won’t remember last year; he won’t recall if it was good or bad, but I will. When I look at our pictures from last Christmas, I don’t see a family torn apart by illness, I see one brought together by the magic of this time of year.

I recently read a truly awful novel about Christmas, truly awful, but one good thing I took from it was the difference between illusion and magic, between the things that appear magical that we can explain, and those that appear magical that we can’t. Last year we experienced both, and I stopped caring about where the line was. If you find yourself struggling to celebrate this year, whether you are alone or with family, here are my tips from our Christmas in the trenches:

Make cookies. This is a cookie time of year no matter what anyone says. You can follow the recipe on the package, make cut outs with extravagant piping or you can contact me for the ultimate cookie recipe – it involves Andes Candies – but make cookies this year. Sharing them makes it even better.

Start an advent tradition. You can light a candle each day, pop a piece of candy from a calendar or make your own tradition. Lego make a number of advent calendars

that are great for kids of all ages.

Forget about catching up on the DVR and watch a holiday movie. Pull out the VHS of the Star Wars Christmas Special, dig out Home Alone. Watch something that only gets watched at this time of year. For that added dash of peace try sitting down and watching it instead of just multi tasking through it.

For me, the holiday season is an especially crafty season. Learn something new this year if you don’t have a craft instantly at hand. You can be adventurous, a santa hat or a snowman takes very little time to crochet. Or you can be simple and make paper chains to hang around the house. If you aren’t crafty, the stores are full of premade kits at this time of year, all you do is follow the instructions and voila, instant cheer.

Get a tree! Whatever size your home and budget can accommodate, the sight of this tree every morning will lift your spirits. All you need are lights in my opinion. If you have a fake one, get a scented candle to go with it and create that pine fresh scent.

Take advantage of technology. My parents live in England, we live in Maine. Last year we each bought a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and my dad read the story to Toby via webcam, while Toby looked at the pictures in his book.

Do any or all of the above with family, friends or a neighbor you barely know. People make the holidays so much better, whether they are the people you would prefer to be with or not!

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. My mom loved Christmas so it was always a big deal growing up in my house. My love for the holiday waned some after my mom passed away, but it was starting to be wonderful again after becoming a mom myself.

Last Christmas was the worst of my life. I got very sick, losing two days that I don’t remember at all. Those two days just happened to be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I ended up in the hospital for five days and I had a long recovery time afterwards.

While I’m completely recovered, the memories of last Christmas are making this one very hard. I knew it was going to be hard this year, but I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be. There are things that I’m doing to help me cope with this holiday season. I just want to try and make it a good Christmas for my daughter as well as just getting through it for me.

First, I’m trying not to push myself. I usually do a lot of baking during the holiday season. This year, I’m skipping Christmas cookies and rock candy just because I don’t think I could deal with the mess. I usually watch a lot of Christmas shows during December, but I’m finding that I’m just not in the mood lately. I’ve been watching a lot of other shows and only watch Christmas shows when the mood strikes me.

We usually stay home for Christmas, but I don’t think I could cope with being home this year. So we are driving up home to Michigan. It is going to be different and I think that will be good. A change of locale is a good one because I’ve heard that other people go on vacation during the holidays to avoid the stress.

I’m also trying to take time for myself and trying not to stress out. This is partly because it is helping me cope with the holidays, but it’s also because stress seemed to play a factor in my illness last year. I do not want that to happen again so I’m trying to stay calm and as stress-free as possible.

These things are working to help me, but some days are better than others. I’m coping as well as I can, but I think I’ll feel much better once the whole holiday season is over with. The holidays are hard for lots of people for a variety of reasons. If you are having a hard time too, just be gentle with yourself and know you aren’t alone.

A few months ago GeekMom told you about Dr. Erin Carr Jordan, a parent and college instructor who took her children to McDonalds in Tempe, Arizona only to find the indoor playland encrusted with grime, old food, even discarded bandages. She filmed the conditions and posted the video online. Conversations with the manager didn’t lead to a clean-up, so a few days later she collected samples for laboratory tests. Results showed the playland harbored strains of staph, coliform, listeria, and other nasties with the potential to cause disease.

While on vacation the next month, Jordan took the opportunity to swab and test playland areas in six states. She found the lab results just as upsetting. She formed a non-profit called Kids Play Safe a to “raise awareness, conduct microbiological testing, and reach out to the media in hopes of influencing public policy and instituting change.” Her unrelenting efforts have garnered plenty of publicity. They’ve also antagonized the fast food industry. Now they’re fighting back.

According to the Arizona Republic, early one morning this week Jordan received a hand-delivered legal notice banning her from eight of her local McDonald’s establishments and threatening criminal trespassing charges if she tries to enter. Jordan told the Arizona Republic she believes the ban stems from a recent incident. She’d found antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA in a McDonald’s playland. She informed the manager, approached customers with children warning them to wash their hands before eating, and after seeing a child lick the equipment she insisted (to no avail) the area be closed. A McDonald’s corporate spokesperson claims that Jordan’s activities have become disruptive for employees and customers.

What are your thoughts? Is this mom taking her crusade too far or are you cheering her on? What solutions do you advocate?

Kids need large motor activity every single day. Since we all know that time in spent in natural surroundings is enormously beneficial for physical as well as mental health, ideally our kids can run, climb, and play outdoors.

But outdoor play isn’t always possible. Not all of us have backyards nor are we such perfect parents that everyday is a park day. And there’s inclement weather to consider too. That’s why indoor playlands found in many fast food restaurants are so popular. Kids get some exercise plus they interact with other kids. In my family, our policy has always been to wash hands immediately after using such a facility because, come on, the places have to be crawling with germs as boisterous as the kids themselves.

Apparently, they are.

According to Dr. E.C. Jordan, lab tests show these places harbor strains of staph, coliform, listeria, and other nasties that have the potential to cause disease. Dr. Jordan says that cleaning protocols are not followed and as a result, the public is exposed to “dangerous germs and pathogens that can make children very ill and are potentially deadly.”

Personally, I’m pretty laid back about how the whole Big Bad Germ thing despite today’s hand sanitizer obsession. Studies have shown that raising children in overly clean conditions may be linked to an increase in asthma, allergies, and other conditions. That’s because without sufficient exposure to viruses and bacteria, children may not develop healthy immune function. Their bodies then overreact with extreme immune responses to normal stimuli in the environment such as pollen, food, or dust. Ironically, more time playing outdoors has been shown to build healthy immunity.

I’m also not a big fan of strong sanitizers and biocides used to kill many viruses and bacteria. I suspect kids are safer playing on surfaces washed with good old soap and water. But Dr. Jordan’s point is clear. Too many of these places don’t seem to be washed with anything.

In typical GeekMom fashion when someone in the family gets sick, I hit my favorite medical sites to diagnose their illness. Sometimes this helps us avoid an expensive trip to the doctor and other times it causes us to make an appointment. Since I am a bit of a hypochondriac and have just enough medical knowledge to be dangerous, I usually jump to the worst possible disease that even remotely matches the given symptoms.

Our now five month old son was something of a puzzle initially. He was terribly fussy, wanting to nurse all the time, and wouldn’t sleep. So I hit the internet to see what I could find. I came across a diagnosis called silent reflux. Our son had every symptom they listed. So, with information in hand and a small sense of dread, we made an appointment with his pediatrician. There have been other times when, armed with my internet diagnosis, the pediatrician has dismissed my claims. We have since changed doctors and I was pleasantly surprised after I presented my case that our new pediatrician agreed with me. Our little man was given an antacid prescription and has been a much happier baby ever since.

Given that anyone can post anything and call it fact on the internet, I typically stick with these sites when attempting a diagnosis or researching an illness:

KidsHealth: this site has tons of info, but what I like best is that there are articles geared towards the different audiences of kids, teens, and parents. You could even let your geekling help diagnose a sibling… not that I would do that, but I’m just saying.

Kellymom: this site has a wealth of information on breastfeeding, parenting, and various illnesses. This is the place where I first heard the term silent reflux.

So when someone in your house comes down with a mysterious ailment, do your research and present it to the doctor. The worst that can happen is getting a note in your chart that reads something like “Warning: this patient is a cyberchondriac and slightly off their rocker”. The best that can happen is that they agree with you and you have helped your family member get diagnosed and treated more quickly. I would take the note in my chart any day.